Philip Chess (born Fiszel Czyż; March 27, 1921 – October 18, 2016) was a Polish-born American record producer and company executive, the co-founder with his brother of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

Early life

Chess was born to a

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

family in the village of

Motal Motol ( be, Моталь, Russian and West Polesian: Мотоль, pl, Motol, yi, מאָטעלע ''Motele''), also Motal, is a township in Ivanava Raion of Brest Region located about 30 kilometres west of Pinsk on the Yaselda River in Belarus. ...

, then in eastern Poland and now part of Belarus. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1928. The family name was changed to Chess, with Lejzor becoming

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

and Fiszel becoming Philip.

Career

Chess served in the army during World War II. In 1946, after leaving the Army, Phil joined Leonard in running a popular club, the

Macomba Lounge The Macomba Lounge, at 3905 South Cottage Grove, Chicago, was an after-hours music club owned by Leonard Chess from 1946 to October 1950, when it burned down. Chess had invested the money made from his two liquor stores into refurbishing an old eat ...

. Two years later, Leonard became a partner in

Aristocrat Records Aristocrat Records, sometimes billed as the Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September Leonard Chess had invested in the young rec ...

, a local company that recorded a wide range of music, and Phil joined in 1950. The company then changed its name to

, and began concentrating on R&B music, signing and recording artists such as

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

, "Sonny Boy Williamson" (Rice Miller), Robert Lockwood Jr.,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

, Howlin Wolf and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. Phil Chess was actively involved in producing many of their blues and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

recordings. The company expanded successfully through the 1950s and early 1960s, until it was sold to GRT in 1968. Chess was also a co-founder with his brother of L & P Broadcasting, which operated radio station WSDM.

Retirement

Phil Chess retired to Arizona in 1972. Phil and Leonard Chess were both inducted to the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

as non-performers in 1995. In February 2013, Phil Chess attended the ceremony to receive one of

The Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

's Trustees Awards for non-performers presented to him and his brother.

Death

Chess died at his home in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, at the age of 95.

References

External links

Chess RecordsChess Records: How Two Polish Brothers Made Music History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chess, Phil 1921 births 2016 deaths People from Motal Polish emigrants to the United States American music industry executives Jewish American military personnel United States Army personnel of World War II Businesspeople from Chicago 20th-century Polish Jews Chess family Polish military personnel 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews